INDEX. 339 



bluish vapour along the surface of the country ; the poets 

 of Persia and Arabia have described it as under the con- 

 duct of Vengeance, who governs its terrors, and raises or 

 depresses it, as she thinks proper, i. 304. The chief pearl 

 fishery carried on there, v. 243. That Gulf choked up in 

 many places with coralline substances, vi. 195. 



Perspiration, an experiment from which the learned may infer 

 upon what foundation the doctrine of Sanctorian perspira- 

 tion is built, i. 435. 



Peruvians, Father Acosta, and Garcilasso de la Vega, make no 

 doubt but that they understood the art of preserving their 

 dead for a long space of time, ii. 122. 



Petrel, or gull, described, iv. 379. 



Petroleum, an injection of this bituminous oil inwardly, and 

 an application of asphaltum without, suffice to make a 

 mummy, ii. 133. 



Pettichaps, a bird of the sparrow kind, iv. 255. 



Phalanger, a kind of opossum ; its description ; has been 

 called the rat of Surinam, iii. 328. 



Phatagin, an animal less than the pangolin; the extent of its 

 tail above twice the length of its body ; countries where it 

 is to be found, iii. 224. 



Pheasants, at first propagated among us, brought into Europe 

 from the banks of the Phasis, a river of Colchis, in Asia 

 Minor, whence they still retain their name ; Croesus, king 

 of Lydia, seated on his throne, adorned with the barbarous 

 pomp of eastern splendour, asked Solon whether he ever 

 beheld any thing so fine ? Solon replied, that having seen 

 the beautiful plumage of the pheasant, no other finery could 

 astonish him ; description of this beautiful bird ; its flesh the 

 greatest dainty ; animals of the domestic kind once reclaim- 

 ed, still continue domestic, and persevere in the habits and 

 appetites of willing slavery ; but the pheasant, taken from 

 its native warm retreats, still continues his attachment to 

 native freedom ; and, wild among us, is an envied ornament 

 of our parks and forests, where he feeds upon acorns and 

 berries ; in the woods the hen pheasant lays from eighteen 

 to twenty eggs in a season, but in a domestic state seldom 

 above ten ; when wild, she hatches and leads up her brood 

 with patience, vigilance, and courage ; but when tame she 

 never sits well ; and a common hen becomes her substitute ; 

 and as for leading her young to their food, she is utterly 

 ignorant where it is found ; and the young would starve if 

 left solely to her management ; it is better left at large in 

 the woods than reduced to its pristine captivity ; its fecun- 

 dity, when wild, is sufficient to stock the forest, and its flesh 

 acquires a higher flavour from its unlimited freedom ; its 

 habits, when tame ; no birds are shot more easily ; when 

 physicians of old spoke of wholesomeness of viands, the 



